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Books about making the world a better place
Looking out at everything wrong with the world, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and wonder why so many problems linger.
But we need to remember that change does happen, and it’s happening now. What ends up looking inevitable in the rear-view mirror is the result of immense efforts by visionary leaders and their supporters who rolled up their sleeves to get the job done. Here are books by and about people working to make positive change, and each in their own way calls out to you to take action.
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Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Robin Wall Kimmerer explores age-old questions of nature using the tools of science to lead readers into a holistic understanding of our place in the world and how we can preserve it for future generations.
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The Time Has Come: Why Men Must Join the Gender Equality Revolution
In 1991 Michael Kaufman founded the White Ribbon Campaign as a means for men to express their support for ending violence against women. In the age of #MeToo, Kaufman sees opportunities for men to liberate themselves from toxic masculinity and join with women against domestic violence and workplace harassment, as well as advocating for things like parental leave. He draws on a mountain of research to make the case that the problem we’re facing was created by and is sustained by men, and it’s not going to be solved without men at the forefront of change.
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Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality
As an expert on the legal history of Canada's "Indian Act", the legal framework encompassing the relationship between the government and Indigenous Peoples, Bob Joseph offers an eight-part process to help business and government work more effectively with Indigenous Peoples—benefitting workplace culture as well as the bottom line.
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Ten Days in a Mad-House
Journalist Nellie Bly gave 19th century readers their first glimpse into the workings of a “lunatic asylum,” where inmates were fed garbage, tortured, with no counselling or aid of any kind or hope of release. When she published her findings (which are compiled in this book) it led to a grand jury investigation of the asylum and numerous reforms. Additionally Bly inspired a new kind of first-hand journalism that brings us front-line accounts to this day.
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Take Back the Tray: Revolutionizing Food in Hospitals, Schools, and Other Institutions
There’s no substitute for the sense of well-being a good meal can bring, but in places where we don’t get to choose what to eat—in hospitals, schools, and prisons—mealtime often leaves people feeling unwell. Activist and chef Joshna Maharaj shares her experience of working on the front lines of institutional food, struggling to balance shrinking budgets against human needs. Here she lays out a plan for making the humble cafeteria tray the site of a nourishing revolution.
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The New Possible: Visions of Our World beyond Crisis
2020 upended every aspect of our lives. But where is the world heading now? The New Possible offers twenty-eight unique visions of what can be—if instead of choosing to go back to normal we choose to go forward to something better.
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Born to Walk: The Transformative Power of a Pedestrian Act
It’s easy to take basic bipedalism for granted. But Dan Rubinstein argues that there’s no more widely accessible form of exercise that benefits both body and mind than getting outside and putting one foot in front of the other. To the extent that those steps displace carbon-emitting motorized travel, so much the better. Moreover, he observes in his extensive research, a lot of the good people do for other people comes about through walking, in everything from strolling conversations that connect us with loved ones to marches for social causes.
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How to Cool the Planet: Geoengineering and the Audacious Quest to Fix Earth's Climate
As we’ve observed recently, even huge disruptions to our commuting behaviours won’t make enough of a dent in carbon emissions to avoid climate catastrophe. In this book, journalist Jeff Goodell studies the world of geoengineering: technologies designed to impact the climate globally, including machines that suck carbon from the air or mirrors in the upper atmosphere that deflect sunlight from the earth. Goodell weighs the risks against the benefits and concludes that there’s merit to these marvelous machines.
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The Urban Cycling Survival Guide: Need-to-Know Skills and Strategies for Biking in the City
Cities around the world are rolling out miles of bike lanes, and for people looking to leave the car at home, avoid crowded transit, or reduce their carbon footprint, cycling is an attractive option. But it can be difficult to know where to start. Urban cycling advocate Yvonne Bambrick lays it all out, from how to choose a bike, to how to get along with other cyclists through implicit and explicit rules. Numerous illustrations help novice cyclists envision what kinds of situations to expect and how to safely navigate them.
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My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies
Psychotherapist Resmaa Menakem examines the damage caused by racism in America and how neuroscience shows that beliefs of essential difference and racial hierarchy manifest in bodily sensations that harm everyone. Menakem lays out a healing process for identifying, perceiving, and altering those feelings to liberate everyone from racism's terrible legacy.
The Optimistic Environmentalist: Progressing Toward a Greener Future
David Boyd thinks we have a shot. He looks back on the last couple of decades at the number of species we’ve pulled back from the brink of extinction, the sweeping changes we’ve made in environmental protection, toxic chemicals banned globally, advancements in renewable energy, and he sees the will and the potential to solve the problems we face. It’s going to be hard and it won’t happen without sacrifice and effort, but he argues that based on what we’ve achieved so far, we can win the fight against global climate change.
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The Participation Revolution: How to Ride the Waves of Change in a Terrifyingly Turbulent World
Neil Gibb is a lifelong advocate for change, and in this book he argues that the time has never been better for getting involved in creating the kind of change you want to see. He sees opportunities for individuals to exert influence everywhere, from marching in the streets to simple acts of consumerism. And he wants everyone to appreciate how much power they actually hold in times of turbulence and upheaval.
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Photo by Liam Edwards on Unsplash
